Gaza City, Palestinian Territories: An Israeli air strike on Gaza City has killed the wife and infant daughter of elusive Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, the Islamist group says.

"The wife of the great leader was martyred with his daughter," in a strike on Tuesday night, Hamas' exiled deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouk wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

He said nothing about the fate of Mr Deif himself. He said Israel had been looking for "an excuse to target a big Hamas leader".

Palestinian emergency services revised an earlier report of three killed in the strike on a large house in the city's Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood and said the victims were a woman and a two-year-old girl.

Another 45 people were injured, they said. Tuesday's deaths were the first as a result of Israeli air raids in Gaza since August 10.

More than a month of fighting between Israel and Hamas has killed at least 2020 Palestinians and 67 on the Israeli side since July 8.

Mr Deif was appointed head of Hamas' military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, in 2002 after the death of his predecessor Salah Shehade in a raid.

Mr Deif had survived at least five previous Israeli attempts to kill him.